Reading the Classics discussion

Post comments here for these chapters.

How is everyone doing reading so far? Does anybody have any comments about Steinbeck's style of writing alternating short lyrical chapters about the migrants as a group with the long narrative chapters about the Joad family?

I think it was terrible that the big companies that owned the land forced the people off land that they had worked on for generations. They told them it was because the land was no good and they weren't going to be able to grow anything on it anyway, but what happened was that the company just wanted the people off the land so that they could farm the land with tractors and it would be cheaper and faster.

Chapter 9
"Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land--in California, where the fruit grows. We'll start over."
People wanted to start a new and better life and tried to go to the better places in the west where ads told of available good-paying jobs and beautiful weather and growing conditions. Let's see what happens as the Joad family travels to California--to their new and better life.

This has been one of my favorite books since I read it for the first time in high school. Every time I read this book, I see new things in it and I am struck by the richly descriptive language. Since I last read this book, I have learned more about the immense struggles my grandparents endured during the time period in which this book is set. I see the struggles of my grandparents in every character in the book. My grandmother's family lost their farm and were forced to start over, just as the Joads did. For me, the first ten chapters have been all the more heartbreaking this reading because I can relate to the story on a more personal level.

Dolores wrote: "How is everyone doing reading so far? Does anybody have any comments about Steinbeck's style of writing alternating short lyrical chapters about the migrants as a group with the long narrative chap..."

It took me a few chapters to realize what Steinbeck was doing but I am actually enjoying his style. It can be a little annoying to break from the main story, but also refreshing in a way. It is like a camera focusing in an out of a picture. It is very interesting to see the effects on the migrants as a group but also to zoom in and see it related to one particular family. I found chapter 7 especially interesting, the one with the car dealerships. I could hear all the voices in my head like I was watching a commercial or listening to the radio.

Dolores wrote: "I think it was terrible that the big companies that owned the land forced the people off land that they had worked on for generations. They told them it was because the land was no good and they we..."

I found it especially terrible that the representatives of these companies kept on saying "It's not us. It's the monster. The bank isn't like a man." "Men made it, but they can't control it." Just a sorry excuse so the spoiled selfish rich people at the top can keep making the big money at the expense of the poor little people at the bottom.

Dolores wrote: "Chapter 9
"Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land--in California, where the fruit grows. We'll start over."
People wanted to start a new and better life and tried to go to the better plac..."

Going West to find their dream! It sounds so wonderful. I hope the Joads aren't disappointed.

Andrea wrote: "This has been one of my favorite books since I read it for the first time in high school. Every time I read this book, I see new things in it and I am struck by the richly descriptive language. Sin..."

Wow! That is amazing to read stories and know your own family went through the same things. Makes it so much more real and emotional for you as the reader.
Andrea, do you have stories you could share from your own family? It would be interesting to compare those to what the Joad family is going through.

I've already commented on these chapters, but I wanted to mention that I think Steinbeck's alternating narrative of the Joads with the broader, more generalized picture of the migrants is one of the best things about this book. It gives the reader not just a narrative about a single family and the hardships they face, but also a real sense of the desperation felt by the majority of those in the country at the time.

I remember reading this in high school and liking it, but I appreciate it all the more now that I'm older and have more of a sense of what it means to work to own something, to have your heart in something. I can't imagine being forced to give up everything you'd worked so hard for, then to have to move out to an unknown place, with only a dream. For some, I'm sure it worked out beautifully, but for many, I'm sure it completely crushed and destroyed them.